Category: glaciers

We climbed ancient moraines, balancing along their very pointy, lofty, narrow ridge-like tops. We scrambled up steep scree slopes. We accessed heights that from below seemed totally daunting, but up close were simply a grunt. We crossed (and got soakers in) many mountain streams. We hiked through pristine high alpine meadows with no trails, marmots, pikas and fall colours. We revelled in lofty views. We walked along airy ledges. We scrambled a bit through notches in cliff bands. We saw cascade after cascade of icy glacial water. We got above the Bow Glacier to marvel at its wrinkled skin and poked our head into the vast blue depths of its toe (a little like peeking under a toenail!!).

I have always loved BIG landscapes.

Trekking up a mountain’s shoulder, hiking through a flowering alpine meadow, snowshoeing through a dense pine forest, or taking in the 360 degree views from a ridge top vantage point make me feel alive. The experiences in these places give me a profound sense of space and place.

Travel does a similar thing, pushing me out of my comfort zone, exposing me to new experiences, new people and new ways of thinking; it also gives me that sense of space and place in this world.

I believe that life is lived in the contrasts: when you experience simplicity and complexity and life's ups and downs, whether they be physically in this world or mentally in your own personal inner landscape, you know that you are truly living.